Before being appointed Archer Aviation’s Chief Safety Officer last month, Billy Nolen was the FAA’s Acting Administrator from April 2022 to June 2023. He has worked in the aviation industry for near on 35 years, previously for companies American Airlines, Airlines for America, Qantas Group and WestJet.
Nolen first began at American Airlines in 1989 where he flew as a pilot and was type rated for the Boeing 757, Boeing 767 and McDonnell Douglas MD-80. He joined Airlines for America in 2015, as the Senior Vice-President of Safety, Security and Operations. He then allied with Qantas Group in 2018 as the Executive Manager for Group Safety and Health and two years later became WestJet’s Vice-President of Safety, Security and Quality, based in Calgary, Canada.
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Why did you not carry on at the FAA?
When I look back on my FAA career, I had already spent many years in Government type positions. I never saw myself as a long-term Government employee. I had been at the FAA for 14 months or so. I felt I had accomplished my goals, in particular, advancing the eVTOL industry. I was asked to stay on, but was at a point in my life when I was ready to return to private industry. I like its tempo.
When did you decide to work for Archer?
Once I made the decision to step away from the FAA, I was approached by various eVTOL companies for my services. When I met Archer and Adam Goldstein back in January, I immediately liked what I saw. I appreciated Adam’s vision. I met his incredible team members like Tom Muniz and Geoff Bower. I loved their energy and passion in bringing the Midnight aircraft to market. The company really resonated with me. It was my connection with Adam that sealed the deal. You want to be surrounded by like-minded people.
Was there a light bulb moment when you realised, “The eVTOL industry is for me!”
During March of 2022, I was in Dallas at the HAI Heli-Expo. There were several mock-up eVTOL simulators on display and I thought, ‘This is pretty cool.’ I’ve always been a Star Wars and Trekkie fan. At that moment, I wasn’t thinking, ‘This is what I want to do when I leave the FAA,’ but it is a transformative industry. It can change how we live and move around; the aircraft are ultra quiet and help decarbonise the planet by offering clean energy. It made me think, ‘This is a great space to be in.’
What can you offer Archer when it comes to gaining full certification, given your FAA experience?
Archer has always had an incredible team. I am deeply honoured that I am now working for them. The company already had a great safety culture and engineering prowess. What I bring, after working at a National and International policy level, is a key understanding of how the FAA works and functions. How the cross-agencies operate and my ability to help navigate that.
For when Midnight comes to market, it must be god-given in the public’s mind that the aircraft is safe. And why being certified by the FAA and EASA authorities will give them that sense of confidence.
You have now been with Archer for several months. What have you contributed so far?
It started from day one. Adam is a brilliant man. He is not reticent about putting his leaders upfront to be the face of the company. So I’ve been doing the media rounds, travelling the world, talking to a lot of people.
Midnight Aircraft
Do you truly believe that in 2025, Midnight will gain its full certification and the proposed Manhattan and Chicago routes actually occur?
This is completely realistic. I would not have joined Archer if I didn’t believe in the vision and central idea of how to get Midnight to market. This is where I can contribute with my FAA experience. We have a certification pathway that is well under way. The Agency is writing the rules on how pilots will operate. This began during my tenure and will be published by the third or fourth quarter of next year. This comports to Archer’s certification timeline for 2025.
Meanwhile, a blueprint for airspace integration and a standard for how vertiports are to be constructed and set up is complete. All of the chief policy air regulatory framework is in place, so you’ve got all the tools necessary to gain full certification. That’s what gives me the confidence to say that the 2025 timeline is achievable.
What is the most difficult hurdle you still need to cross?
So what might trip us up? We could find some crazy changes being made from a regulatory standpoint, but that’s not what we are seeing. The U.S Government and the Administration itself is all in with this industry. For example, earlier this month, over 70 members from the Federal AAM Interagency Working Group visited Archer at our Flight Test Centre in California to meet and talk, as well as witness a live eVTOL flight.
The Innovate28 and Implementation Plan has just been released. So, nothing’s changed with the timeline and time track. Recently, I’ve been in London, followed by the Paris Airshow; and before that in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, discussing our plans to ensure a global harmonisation to market. I believe the world is looking to the U.S for primary leadership in the regulatory framework.
Please talk about the Implementation Plan.
First, I don’t see more than a few Midnight’s in service during 2025 whether in New York or Chicago. You’ve got to start scaling up the business. Next it could be Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami… so what will this take?
So, let’s turn it around. Looking back from 2028, what are the milestones we must have hit to reach this point? Of course, you require the verification pathway and the pilot rules. For, by then, you may have millions of drones operating in the airspace, alongside 50,000 regular aviation commercial flights per day. To achieve this, the Implementation Plan was created.
Getting the vertiports and the electrification, tying it altogether, with the key component being the Government. You can’t achieve this without a 100 percent all-in-approach from them.
Were you involved in compiling the Plan?
While it was a team effort, yes, it was my idea. Back in October of last year, I was at the kitchen table, mapping out all the many parts required to bring the industry to market, and I came up with a diagram and showed it to the FAA executive team and asked what if we take all these different and scattered pieces and present them together in an wholistic way to the Nation as an integrated plan on how to get there.
Is the Plan really going to happen in just 5 years?
I totally believe this. Kennedy said back in 1962, “We choose to go to the moon by the end of the decade. Not because it is easy, but because it is hard.” Seven years later America did.
You have to plant that seed first, as once you galvanise a country anything is possible. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. I said to the FAA, this Plan is our version of a Moonshot. There is an aerospace race, so let’s go on and win it and make America the global leader. I call myself an optimistic realist. You need to give folks something to truly grab on to. A structure, a process and a discipline, to make it happen.
Let’s move on now to safety and the differing regulators. Recently, Adam Goldstein was critical of EASA. Do you believe the 10 to minus nine goal is somewhat extreme?
The regulators don’t have all the answers. It is a combination of communication, co-ordination, harmonisation and transparency to get there. Naturally, I am a fan of the process the FAA has chosen, based around performance standards compared to the overly prescriptive. This industry is new and novel, therefore, it is up to the regulatory authorities to innovate on policy. To allow this policy to evolve and keep pace with technology, but without sacrificing safety.
The industry wants the eVTOL market to become a global phenomenon. How is this possible when each regulator has a varying approach?
There is way more co-operation going on than the public pronouncements would have you believe. It doesn’t mean we all agree 100 percent, but there is not this vast chasm, that some suggest. The question is: how do we bridge the small gap that exists? Everyone knows this must happen and it will happen. Right now, there are weekly calls, monthly and quarterly personal meetings, exchanges of dialogue, ongoing co-operation and collaboration which the public never sees.
What about China and the CAAC, how can they harmonise with the FAA and EASA?
I have worked closely with China and the CAAC in my past work. From my experience, the country has looked to the West, done some modelling, and they have a pretty good safety record. This is where a bilateral agreement comes in to play.
The U.S and the FAA has a long-standing bilateral with the UK as well as with others like the CAAC. There is a process in place for overseas countries to validate the U.S certification. So, we expect them to live by both the spirit and the letter of these bilaterals. In the past, these have served both sides well.
Ten years from now, where do you see the eVTOL industry?
By then, we will be decarbonising the planet and decongesting our cities. We will see literally 1,000s of eVTOLs on a global basis as the industry continues to scale up. And those companies who have the right business plan will be doing very well. There is a space and a level of hunger for this industry. I’ll give you an example.
Recently, I went to New York to speak at a Conference for the Wall Street Journal. I landed at Newark in the early morning. It then took me a long time to reach my final destination. On Midnight, that same final part of the journey might take just ten minutes with no concerns about the rush hour. That is something most folks would sign up for. The flight is safe, it is sustainable, accessible, noise-friendly, and it really does help the environment. This indeed is our future.
A major problem is the present lack of infrastructure. Where are the required vertiports going to be built, especially in city centres?
There are ways. You just need to think out of the box. Present parking lots might become vertiports along with existing heliports and helipads which could be converted. There are tops of buildings that may be utilised, so existing infrastructure can be used. Archer has its own vertiport plans, so stay tuned. But you are absolutely right. The infrastructure is a critical enabler alongside electrification. This needs to come together as one.
There is a U.S goal to create a network of 500,000 electric chargers including high-speed ones, no-more than 50 miles apart, on some 75,000 miles of the Nation’s busiest highways and interstates. Why can’t we tap in to this for the aerospace system as well, so it all comes together in an integrated way?
What interests do you have outside of work, how do you relax?
I love cycling. I try and cover 100 miles a week. I am a big jazz guy. I enjoy travelling with my wife and daughters. I love staying abreast of new ideas. I always ask myself what’s coming next?
So you are a futurist?
I am indeed and overtly so (laughs).
Do you not fly yourself?
Yes. I’ve been a pilot for 42 years and have flown over 4,000 hours on helicopters. I was an airline Captain during my time at American Airlines. I feel most comfortable in the air. I love everything about flying and am totally at home there.
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